Their Promise
by SoulOmenspride
Summary: END OF SERIES SPOILERS Ed and Al made a promise to see each other again...Ed's trying to cope in this strange new world, while Al tries to get used to his own. Will the two be able to keep their promise and see each other again?
1. Worries

A/N: This is my first FMA fic...please review and criticism is welcomed! This is basically based off the end of the series where the movie starts. Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't you hate these things? Okay, so I don't own FMA, which is a pity. BUT I do own all 51 episodes on DVD, a poster (almost), and 2 (hopefully to be 3 soon) shirts...

Chapter 1: Worries

Alphonse Heiderich stared at his work partner from across his own workdesk. They had been working together for nearly two years now, trying to build this rocket, and Al had noticed a change in his partner's work habits. At first the young man was nearly unstoppable when he worked and Al had been amazed at his eagerness to study and work, not to mention the several ideas he had formulated that turned out to be crucial to the construction of the thing, leaving Al breathless at how quickly he had picked up all this difficult material. But after some more time he changed. He became rather clumsy in his work, and the look in his eye when he studied and read through their books was seemed somehow, well--_desperate_. His work was rushed and filled with mistakes, and he tried to work on several different things at once, as though he was hoping that the rocket would be completed quicker that way. This often led to Al working early into the morning trying to fix the mistakes his partner had made. The man became prone to dropping things while he worked, and once when Al tried to tell him that he was putting one piece in the wrong way, he exploded on the young German boy, telling him to leave him alone when he worked. Something about a new idea he was coming up with. But lately he had been different. He hardly got anything done during the days he spent at the hanger, though his work was more accurate than it had been in ages. He barely responded when Al tried to strike up conversation, and when he did respond his tone was too happy to be natural. It was as though he had given up, lost in despair. And to add to it, his father had been missing lately. Though from what Al knew of the boy, this was the least of his worries.

"Ed?" Al called from the other side of the room, not expecting an answer. When he didn't get one, he sighed and stood up, walking over to Ed's side of the room. Ed's head was bent over the desk, his bangs hiding his eyes so that Al couldn't see them. "Ed?" he asked again, and once again there was no answer. In an attempt to get the man's attention he clapped his hands hard over Ed's head. Ed jumped and slapped his own hands against the table at the sudden noise, sending small parts flying off the desk in all directions. Al couldn't help but to laugh as Ed looked up at him, shock written in his features.

"Al?" he gasped and let out a relieved sigh, sinking back down onto the desk. "Scare me to death next time why don't you?"

"Well normally I would," smiled Al, who had now stopped laughing and now stood with one hand on his hip, studying the back of his other outstretched hand like it were the most fascinating thing in the world, "but I figure that you're still a little bit more useful alive."

With those words Ed looked around at the small materials that had flown off of his desk to their current resting spots on the floor, then to the piece he had been working on for the past week or two that should have only taken him a few days. He looked up and gave Al an embarrassed smile. "Sorry Al. I guess I've been kinda out of it lately, huh?" he apologized, looking up. Al nodded and watched as Ed looked back to the parts scattered on the ground then back to his face once more, that apologetic look still there. "I promise I'll make it up to you. I'll stay here til I get this finished."

"I was about to go get lunch." Al said, watching with sad eyes as his partner picked up the pieces on the floor. "Is there anything you'd like?" Ed shook his head. "I'm fine, thanks. Anyways, I need to get this finished," he said with a smile, pointing at the part.

That same forced, fake smile, Al thought as he grabbed his coat, putting it on as he walked out the door. He frowned. Lately whenever he asked Ed if he wanted something to eat he said 'No thanks, I'm fine'. And of course he worried about the boy. They'd become pretty good friends since they had worked together, and he was usually distant with everybody else. He bowed his head. But then again his case was a little different. He thought he had an idea about what had been bothering Ed lately, too. He had heard about this 'other world' of his once not long after they had met.

He walked along the sidewalk, hands warming in his pockets, and smiled as he thought back to the time when Ed told him. It had been an accident, actually, that he found out. He'd only needed a pen, after all.

--- flashback>

Al looked at the stack of papers that had been left on his desk when Rudolf Hess, his sponsor, had left and sighed. Great, he would be up all night signing these papers! Maybe Ed wouldn't mind to work a little late tonight. He smiled and doubted it as he rummaged through his desk for a pen. Ed was always ready to work and Al seriously believed that had he would live at the hanger and work every hour of the day had Al not forced him to leave each night when he locked up.

After searching his entire desk, Al still found no pen. "Hey Ed?" he called from where he stood. When he didn't recieve a reply, he looked over to his partners side and sighed when Ed was not there. Surely he had a pen in his desk somewhere? Not able to wait for his partner to get back, Al walked over to the desk and began searching for a pen. As he searched through Ed's desk, he found some photographs scattered about the drawer. He couldn't help it and, being the fifteen-year-old that he was, he just had to take a peek. It had been a picture of two young boys holding up an enormous fish. Apparantly they had just caught it, as the boy who appeared to be a younger version of Edward had a look of pride and excitment upon his face. His eyes dropped to the other young boy and widened, and he stared, stunned, at a boy who look exactly like him, save for the dark brown eyes and light brown hair.

Suddenly the photo was snatched out of his hand, but he was so transfixed by what he had seen, that he continued staring into the space it had been.

"Al!" he heard a voice yell at him and he flinched, immediately knowing who it was. "What are you doing looking through my desk?"

"Ed!" he said, turning around to face the glaring boy. He waved his hands in front of his face with worry as a large sweatdrop rolled down the side of his head and laughed nervously. "Sorry! Sorry! I was just looking for a pen--I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

To Al's relief, Ed's eyes softened as he looked from the picture back to him. "It's okay." He replaced the picture back to his desk and handed Al a pen. He took it but glanced back at Ed, unable to keep his thoughts to himself. "Why did that boy look like me?" Ed glanced back up at him from his desk and gave him a small smile. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "This may sound strange, but I'm foreign to this world. I'm from a different world, and I have a little brother who looks like you."

--- end of flashback>

Al turned and walked inside a small store, still thinking. That was all Ed had said then, but over time Al learned of his hope that a rocket would somehow bring him closer to his world. It still didn't make sense to him even after what he could get Ed to tell him, but then again he really knew nothing about this world of alchemy so he didn't have a place to talk.

He walked back out of the store a few minutes later with both his and Ed's lunch. Yeah. He had gotten Ed one even though he declined. Al knew from experience that Ed had a hard time refusing something anyone bought for him, especially when it came to himself, and smirked. Perhaps it was cruel to take advantage of this sense of politeness, but he couldn't have Ed getting weak on him. The man was a genius, after all, and without him this rocket would never get finished. His smug smirk turned into a small smile. But no, really. Ed was still his friend.


	2. Renewed hope

_**A/N: **Well I figure that it's about time for an update! This one's a little shorter...for some reason I had a hard time with Edward's POV. shrugs And just for a warning, for the next couple of chapters or so it might seem like I'm changing pov's alot ('cause I kinda will be!), but it should eventually even out to where it's just Ed's and Al's povs--Al Elric, I mean. I've ended up doing some changes on the summary and stuff, and later might even change genres or something. Because other things just keep randomly popping up as I write! Oh fun..._**

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**Chapter 2: Renewed Hope**

It took him a while, but Ed had finally picked up all the small pieces off of the floor and was now working intently on the part on his desk. He had to get this finished before he left tonight, and almost wished that Al would have gotten on to him about it earlier. Of course, he knew how many sleepless nights Al had had attempting to either fix his work or finish it, and he felt rather guilty about it. But through all his research, he was beginning to lose hope that this would get him back where he belonged. And, come to think of it, it was very tempting to just stay here in this world, live his life for himself for a change, give up going back, forget about his own world, if it was really there. Lately he had been having doubts that it ever really existed to begin with. Very tempting, indeed. There was an Al here too, constantly reminding him of his younger brother, and he was a good friend. And God only knew how much less he would suffer if he just gave up going back.

Just then something dropped on his desk. "Eat up," Al's voice said cheerfully. Ed looked up, dumbfounded for a moment before spotting the bag on his desk. "Al, I thought I told you I was okay!" The boy just shrugged and smirked. "Well, you haven't been looking so well these past few weeks, and it's like I said earlier. Can't have you dying on me now! You're still too useful for that!" He gave Ed a wink and pulled a chair up beside him, setting his own lunch on the desk.

Ed couldn't help but smile. It was times like this that this Al's resemblence to his Al back home just made it seem easier to stay. He was the same kindhearted soul his brother had been. Ed watched hesitantly as Al opened up his own bag. "You know, Al," he started rather shamefully as he watched his partner take a bite out of his sandwich, "I won't be able to pay you back for this for a while, what with my old man missing and the rent getting higher now."

"Yes you will!" Al responded, shoving the untouched bag of food into Ed's face. He looked up questioningly as Al took another bite and swallowed. "All you have to do is start getting your work done! That'll be enough payment. Now eat," he said, shoving the bag in Ed's face once more.

Ed smiled again, taking his own lunch out of the bag. This ought to be enough to get him back to work...for a little while at least. Al had already done so much for him since he'd been here, and he felt as though he'd done nothing for him. He didn't want Al to think that he was taking advantage of his kindness. And because of that, it was getting harder and harder to accept what all he offered. After all, if Ed decided to stay Al would be the only one he knew.

The two just ate in silence for a few minutes before Al finally spoke up. "You said that the rent was rising for your place, right?" Ed looked up and nodded, wondering where this was going. Al shrugged casually and said, "I can imagine that it's pretty lonely with your father gone and all. If you wanted to, you could stay with me. There's more than enough room if you wanted to, and I wouldn't mind having someone else around. And who knows, maybe having someone else around would help you stay focused." He offered Ed a small smile. "If you don't we'll never get this finished. Then how else will you get back to your brother?"

Ed stared back down at his lunch, slightly shocked at the offer. Yep. This is what he meant. The boy did so much to help him keep on going. But what did Ed do to return the favor? Heck, he couldn't even stay on task building this rocket anymore! And he knew how much it meant to Al to bring glory to his home country. If he accepted, how would he ever be able repay something like this? Abandon him and leave if he ever_did_ manage to finda way back to Amestris? But now Al had brought up what had been bothering him. "Al," he said sadly, still looking down as he pushed away his lunch. "I don't think the rocket will work. I don't think it will take me back." He felt a hand on his shoulder, and he forced himself to look up at Al. The look in the younger boy's eyes were sad, but he still smiled.

"You should still try it and see if it works," he said encouragingly. He shook his head slowly and continued. "Don't give up. At least you have a chance to get back to your brother." Ed noticed the distant, sad look in Al's eyes with these words. "Al?" he asked curiously, but was ignored as Al continued to speak. "You need to get back to your little brother, Ed. I'm sure he's waiting for you and can't wait to see you again."

Ed looked at his partner with concern as he felt the hand leave his shoulder and watched it sink back to its owner's side. "Al?" he asked again, worried about his friend. This time his question was acknowledged. Al shook his head as though to bring himself back to reality and put on a smile which, to Ed, looked to be forced. His eyes gave away everything, though Ed could tell he tried hard to hide it all. "Well at leastthink about it, Ed," Al said in an overly cheerful voice. The same one that he himself had often used when speaking to Al. "Let me know if you'd like to, and I can help you move your things." Al gave him one last overly cheerful, very false smile,and with that, he threw away the remains of his lunch and went back to his own desk.

Soon afterwards, Ed was working on his part once again. _No,_ he thought, returning to his thoughts from earlier as he glanced across the room. What was it that Al was hiding from him? Whatever it was he was right. _I can't break the promise I made to Al. I can't give up. _His conversation with Al had been the spark he needed to ignite that flare of hope within him once more. The tone in his voice just sounded so--_genuine._ He couldn't explain it. It sounded so sad, yet so sincere,and, dare he say it--almost jealous?He glanced over at his partner once more. Al had his head bent over his desk, working on his own parts and plans. Whatever had been bothering him earlier now seemed to be gone, as he was working like his usual self again. Ed turned back around to his own and took a deep breath. If he kept working, he could have this done by midnight, maybe even a little earlier. He hadn't yet broken a promise, and he wasn't about to start breaking them now. First he would finish this for his work partner. _Then_ he would find his way back to his brother.

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_InOurTearsOfMisery--I'm glad you liked it! I hope you the rest of it!_

_limebaby--grins and hugs Thank you so much! And I love Alphonse Heiderich! hugs Alphonse Heiderich but then cries as she remembers he's not real Thanks for the review!_

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	3. feelings of resentment

**_A/N: Well I'm back with Chapter 3! Forgive me if my next update is a little slower than this. I've been having a hard time getting stuff written down lately. I've got tons of ideas for the middle of the fic, but I have to break through the beginning first, which is proving harder than I thought it would be. I think that after next chapter, it will be easier to get these chapters out and I might end up updating sooner! And I'm also trying not to be influenced by the movie, since I read spoilers for it. O.o But I like how I plan to go about things, so I don't think it will...anyways, on to the fic!_**

**_Disclaimer: nope, still don't own it...BUT! I did finally get the poster, only I'm in a different state than it is...sulksOh well, I'll be back for it soon..._**

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**Chapter 3: Feelings of Resentment**

Alphonse Elric sighed, the side of his face resting on his fist as he stared out the train window. Lost in thought, he partly watched the countryside flying by and partly watched his own barely visible reflection. His dark brown eyes were sad and his long hair blew around slightly from the wind streaming through the barely opened window. He absentmindedly played with the zipper on his black coat, unzipping it slightly before zipping it back up again, and stayed in this dreamy state until he heard a voice say, "We should arrive in Rush Valley in another hour."

Al jumped as the sharp voice of his Sensei brought him back to his senses. He looked over at her and nodded his head slightly. "Thanks," he said dully, returning his attention to the window. He heard her sigh and leave to go back to her seat. He'd been like this for a while, since his last birthday about three months ago to be exact. He had turned 13. He should have turned 17. It was something that had been eating at his nerves ever since then. Not that he wasn't grateful to still live, in fact he would never be able to express his gratitude, but as soon as he found his older brother, Al intended to yell at him and give him a good punch to the head! He smirked at the thought, but it didn't stay for long.

He knew what his brother had done, what he'd risked to get him back. And this whole time, Al had felt guilty. Everytime someone mentioned Ed's name and everytime Al asked about all those missing years, he could see the sadness behind everyone else's eyes. And everytime he got upset and moody and locked himself in his room because of the new age difference between Winry and himself or the frustration of not knowing people who seemed to know him, he would feel guilty later for cursing this life his brother had returned to him at the risk of his own existence. He tried to keep in these feelings of resentment, but they oftentimes grew to be more than he could handle. He was too confused with everything that had happened. As far as he knew, one day he and his brother had just gotten back from their training with their Sensei, and the next his brother was thought by many to be dead and his best friend had grown up without him, changing the once one year age difference to five years. He saw the pain in her eyes whenever he mentioned his brother, and everytime he looked away, guilt weighing on his shoulders and threatening to crush him for being the thing that had taken Ed from her. Even if she never hinted at it, even if she always hugged him and welcomed him back gleefully, he was sure that she blamed him. How could she not? He seemed to be the only one Ed had cared about...

Trying not to fall victim to this guilt once more, he shoved a gloved hand into the pocket of his long, red, hooded jacket--or, more accurately,_ Ed's _long, red, hooded jacket (he had apparantly left it behind when he last left the Rockbell house, and Al had found it in his closet)--and he pulled out a photograph. The only picture he had showing himself as an empty suit of armor. Beside the armor stood a boy with braided blond hair and gold eyes. He wore black pants, gloves, and a black shirt and coat, as well as a serious expression on his face. It had taken Al a while to recognize the boy when he first looked at the picture, but it was obvious enough who he was. It had taken Al a lot of searching to find even this much of those lost years, this one picture. And it had cost him a lot of pain and hard work too. Al grinned at the memory...

---flashback

He had to hurry. Sensei would be back any minute. Al started to sweat as he thought about what might happen if he got caught. He groaned. He'd spent the past two months he had been back to training studying his teacher's habits so that he could do this. No one would tell him anything about his brother, so Al had taken it upon himself to find things out. So far when he had been at Winry's, he had found a red jacket with their teacher's symbol on the back that had belonged to his brother. And earlier when he talked to Mr. Mason, all he could find out was that he and Ed had stayed with Izumi for a time. Surely she had something from that time they had spent there?

He rummaged frantically through his teacher's desk, hoping that these would not be the last few minutes of his entirely too short life. She might be a caring person overall, but her punishments were harsh and she hadlittle, if any,tolerance for breaking her rules...looking through her things without permission for instance...He had noticed her looking at something a few times before, but whenever he came up to her, she shut it away in one of her drawers. That was why he suspected something possibly having to do with his older brother was scattered about somewhere in this desk. He was shaking as he moved aside pieces of paper and other objects and his heart beat rapidly in his chest. He opened another drawer. Photographs littered the bottom of it. _Maybe, just maybe_...he searched through the pictures. Some of them were from last time he had been in training, when his brother was there too. _'So maybe she got a picture of us when we were here before,'_ he prayed desperately in his head. She had always treated them like they were her sons when they were around...outside of training, that is.

He moved a few more photographs out of the way and he froze. There was a photo with several people in it. Izumi and her husband, Sig. Mr. Mason was in there too! Beneath Izumi was...Winry? Why was she there? And next to her was a short boy with blond hair. Ed...the only reason Al reckognized his brother was from the red jacket he wore. It was the same one that had been left at the Rockbell's! He looked in the background and saw a figure he hadn't noticed before. A giant suit of armor. Him.

Al began to search some more and had soon found more pictures with him and his brother, having forgotton that he had only a limited amounttime to sneak around from his excitement and surprise. He picked up one of only him and his brother. Ed had a determined look on his face as the suit of armor stared straight ahead, unable to show emotion. But this little 'reunion' with his old self was short-lived, as the door behind him slammed open against the wall with tremendous force. He jumped and turned around to face a very angered Sensei. The look on her face was pure anger as she yelled at him, asking him why he was going through her desk without permission. He felt himself go white as he shook from fear of dying for this and looked up at her, still clutching the picture in his hands.

"S-Sensei!" he managed to sqeak, waiting for his punishment. He saw it coming as she took a few steps closer, raising her fist as she did so. She started to swing it as she looked down at him. Al closed his eyes and held his breath, raising up his arms to sheild his face from her blow. _'This is it,' _he thought to himself as he awaited the darkness of being unconcious. _'I'll never get to find Brother now! I've blown it!' _It seemed like forever that he stood like that, fearing the oncoming pain, and he could have sworn that he ran out of breath. But he soonfelt something, and he started screaming and running in circles, apolagizing over and overand promising never to do it again. So tensed andready for the punch, he didn't even realize that she had only taken the photo from his hands. Well, at least he didn't realize it until he tripped over her foot. He crashed to the ground, but when he opened his eyes and saw that he was alive, he let out a sigh of relief as tears of happiness streamed down his face! Two words ringing in his head. _'I'm alive!'_

"Get up, Al!" her harsh tone spoke, and his smile turned to a frown, tears still streaming and thewords _'I'm alive' _being replaced with _'I spoke too soon!'_ He jumped up almost instantly and looked at her. He was surprised when he sawthe soft look on her face as she lookedat the picture he had been holding and the other pictures he had pulled out and scattered on the top of her desk. She just gathered them all up, throwing them back into her desk before she walked past him and out of the room, rubbing his head as she left. It was a movewhich stunned him even more, and he followed her.

---end flashback

And that had to be the closest Al ever got to getting out of a punishment. He never recieved that punch, and she never spoke of it again, but he still payed dearly. Alphonse shivered as he thought of all the extra chores and training he had to do for the next month after that accident. Those bruises and injuries well made up for that puch. But he recieved the picture for his 11th birthday that occured no too long afterwards, and that was well worth getting caught, even if she never said mentioned much about the picture...

But now Al was finished with training, so he was going to Rush Valley where Winry was studying and working on automail with her instructor. He had decided to pay her a visit before he went on to central to see if he could get any information on his brother and what he had done. He hadn't seen Winry in almost a year. Dominique had no problem keeping her busy, and for his birthday she had sent his gift along with a letter and a thousand apologies and happy birthdays. Izumi had decided to come along and talk with Winry about Wrath's automail. Al had only seen Wrath a few times, and in his opinion, he was a strange kid. What his relationship with Izumi was, Al had no clue, but the young boy always ran off without a word. And apparantly he had stopped by Winry's for a few repairs, so Izumi needed talk about payment.

Hold on a second...he was visiting Winry! He looked down at what he was wearing as he shoved the photo back into his pocket and frowned at his stupidity, smacking himself in the forhead. She looked sad enough when he just mentioned Ed, and that's when he was dressed normally! But now, he was dressed as Ed. The only difference was the hair color, the eye color, and the bangs to some extent. Why didn't he think of that before he decided to go around like this? Being dressed like him might make things worse than they already were! And Al didn't like to see her sad...

But then again, maybe she'd say something about Edward. After all, that's why he was dressed like his older brother anyways...information. Maybe by showing his determination to find Edward, he could get someone to tell him about those four years. That was the plan anyways.

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**_So how was it? I finally understand how the muses work...and how they make sudden new ideas pop up in your head...COOl!. Now for my 'weird andrandom attempt to get reviews' of the day! Yeah, I'm a dork, I know..._**

**_Fanfictions are like elevators. They have their ups and downs but no matter what, you just can't help but to press the buttons. hint hint ;) I know that there's more people reading this fic, and reviews will be recieved with open arms!_**

**_Moonglitter2: Well here you go, and I hope that you like it!_**

**_Crisis Halo: I'm so glad you like it! hugsThanks for the encouragement, and I hope that you enjoy the rest of it!_**

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	4. Changes

**_A/N: Yay! I was able to get it done earlier than I thought!Shorter and less eventful than I had hoped it to be, and probably not worth the week's wait,but there just wasn't a whole lot more I could put down for it. Iswear I'll make up for it in the next few chapters, I just couldn't resist this for some reason.The next chapter should be back in Munich with Ed, and I'll probably start alternating more between Amestris and Germany...I just need to come up with some more events for Munich. I've got plenty for Amestris, and something for the next Munich, but I'll come up with some more, don't worry! _**

**_Disclaimer: Still don't own FMA...but if I did, I'd make this entire fic a movie or episode or something! Unfortunately, I can't do that..._**

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**Chapter 4: Changes**

Winry had been waiting at the train station for half an hour already, on the off chance that it came ahead of schedule. Of course, it wouldn't, if only because she had come early. She looked up at the clock above the bench she was sitting on and sighed. There were only ten minutes left until the scheduled arrival and she looked out at the deserted tracks, straining her eyes and ears for any sign of the train bearing her best friend.

It had been almost a year since Winry had seen Al, and she was looking forward to his visit. She hadn't been able to see him for his birthday since plenty of customers requested that she, rather than Dominique, work on their automails. She was amazed she'd gotten the time to get out and pick him up at the train station, but she had managed to convince a few of her more friendly customers to allow her instructor to help them so that she might have some time to spend with Al. She didn't know how long he'd be staying, but hopefully it would be for a while. He would be busy trying to find out things about his brother, of course. He wouldn't give up either. It was only a matter of time before he went off to Central to find the people his brother had worked with.

Winry frowned and looked up at the clear, blue sky. She'd tell him if she could, but as the two boys had always kept her in the dark about what they did, that wasn't going to work. She knew that Al thought everyone was trying to hide everything from him, but the truth was that no one he had encountered so far had the knowledge give satisfactory answers. Ed was the only one who could do that...And he was gone. The next closest person was Mustang, but she was almost convinced they had managed to hide things from him as well, and he wouldn't be able to give Al the full details either.

She was pulled out of her thoughts by the welcoming sound of a train in the distance. She looked back up at the clock and smiled. _'Of course. Right on time.'_ She sat and watched as the train came into view, puffing smoke into the sky, and slowed to a stop in front of the station. Barely able to contain her excitement, Winry jumped to her feet and scanned the windows for any sign of her visitor. _'Aha!' _

She had spotted Al's face turn from his window, and she raced to it, grinning as she did so. She stopped and watched him gather his things, still smiling, and just as he began to stand up, she rapped on the window with her knuckles.

---

Al found himself, once again, staring at the picture of him and his brother. Almost as though his brother would jump out of it if he stared at it hard enough. He didn't even notice that the train had stopped until Izumi came up to him and shook him lightly on the shoulder, bringing him out of his dream world where he had his brother back, he was the right age, and the two of them lived with Winry and Pinako just like they used to...

He glanced out of the window before putting the picture up in the suitcase sitting in the seat across from him. He grabbed a few other things he had taken out and stuffed them back into the suitcase as well. He didn't need that much and he'd probably just be travelling after this visit anyways, so there was no need to bring any more than he needed. He had helped out Izumi and Sig with their store, and earned some money for that. He'd been saving it for this so he didn't think expenses would be a problem. At least he hoped they wouldn't be.

With all his things finally packed back up, he picked up the suitcase and stood up. As he did so, he heard a tapping noise on the window. Al smiled when he turned around to see a familiar face beaming at him through the glass. He set the suitcase back down and opened the window the rest of the way.

"Hello, Winr--ugh!" Before he could finish the name, she had thrown her arms around his neck and half dragged him out of the window. When she kissed him on the cheek, he could feel himself start to turn red. _'No, Alphonse', _he told himself. _'She's an adult now, you're just a teenager.' _Unfortunately, this little reminder didn't make the burning feeling on his cheeks go away, but she ended up squeezing his neck tighter, enabling him to blame it on the fact that he could barely breathe. "W-Winry!" he managed to choke out, and she let go of him, beaming at his still slightly pink face.

"Al," Izumi called for him. "Quickly before the train leaves." Al grabbed his suitcase and waved at Winry before following his Sensei's voice. He couldn't help but lightly touch the spot on his cheek that Winry had kissed, and he grinned. _'For a welcoming like that I should go off more often,'_ he thought. _'No, that's horrible,' _he chided himself as he stepped off the train and onto the platform.

He smiled as he noticed her waiting for him by a bench and started toward her. She hadn't really changed that much from the last time he'd seen her. Well, so maybe she did look more _womanish _than she had before, but that was about it. That and the fact that she clipped her hair up in the back now rather than put it in a ponytail. She hadn't changed much...just became an adult without him...

His face fell at this thought, but only momentarily. He forced his earlier smile back onto his face, only letting it fall again when Winry looked him up and down and narrowed her eyes at him. "Al," she said in a low voice that suggested danger. He froze in fear at the tone in her voice and the dark look on her face. Ah crap! He knew what was coming! It was how he had dressed! He was bringing back painful memories! She was going to kill him because--

"You're almost as tall as me now! You sure grew!" Her voice was now cheery and she had moved closer, using her hand to emphasize her point.

Al let out the breath he had been holding and looked up with a smile. "Yeah, almost." He noticed that the top of his head reached her eyes before she said, "I wonder what Ed would say if he saw you now. When he was sixteen, he just barely reached my shoulders, and you're only thirteen and almost as tall as me!" She giggled, and Al looked up at her in surprise. Winry _never_ mentioned his big brother. And she definately never laughed about it afterwards. Maybe she had changed more than he thought.

He watched her even after she had left, giving him a small smile before she went to help Izumi with her bags, and more than likely start to talk about the automail maintenance she had done for Wrath.

"Al," Winry started as the three of them headed off down the road in the direction of the place they would be staying, "You'll have to tell me all about how your training has gone, and I'll tell you about mine!" At the look on her face Al knew exactly what she meant. She had promised to train and work harder to make the best automail. He had promised to come back safe and sound after his training and bring back his brother. He smiled and nodded his head. Sure, he still wasn't sure about what to do to bring Ed back, but he was pretty sure she hadn't been able to make the best automail this world has ever seen yet either, so, for the time being, neither of them was behind on their promise to the other. Even so, he hoped that that would change soon. He really wanted to fulfill his promise soon...

* * *

**_Sorry to anyone who may find the Al/Winry thing insulting (I once read a fic where the author didn't mind to throw in their hatred of the pairing...-shrugs-), and if any of you are reading this thing, I'll just let you know not to worry, it's not going to turn anything more,as far as I know there won't be any pairings. I just had to put that in there! And sorry for not putting a whole lot of dialogue in these so far, but I promise that people will start talking more after this chapter!_**

**_Hmmm...that elevator thing must have worked or something! Lol. I need to come up with more 'random attempts to get reviews' of the day! Sadly, I don't have another one prepared. Ah well...on to the reviewers! And more reviews will be welcomed as well:)_**

**_Moonglitter2: Thank you so much! I hopethat this one doesn't dissapoint you!_**

**_FMA Junkie: Wow! I'm glad to hear that you like it so much! Thank you!_**

**_Whoosh: Yeah, I've always thought he dressed up as Ed to get information. It just makes more sense to me. -shrugs- Anyways, thanks for the review!_**

**_Krylancelo: What happens was that Al was brought back, but he lost the 4yrs he spent as armor, and came back as a ten year old boy. hehe, and cool name, I had to make sure that I spelt it right:) Thanks for the review and I'm glad that you like it!_**


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